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17 - Heralds of the Morning - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, Heralds of the Morning. One of the most
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Speaker 1: solemn and yet most glorious truths revealed in the Bible
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Speaker 1: is that of Christ's second coming to complete the great
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Speaker 1: work of redemption to God's pilgrid people so long left
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Speaker 1: to sojourn in the region and shadow of death. A
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Speaker 1: precious joy inspiring hope is given in the promise of
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Speaker 1: his appearing, who is the resurrection and the life to
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Speaker 1: bring home again has vanished. The doctrine of the Second
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Speaker 1: Advent is the very keynote of the Sacred Scriptures. From
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Speaker 1: the day when the first pair turned their sorrowing steps
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Speaker 1: for Eden. The children of faith have waited the coming
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Speaker 1: of the Promised One to break the destroyer's power and
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Speaker 1: bring them again to the lost paradise. Holy men of
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Speaker 1: old looked forward to the Advent of the Messiah and
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Speaker 1: Glory as the consummation of their hope. Enoch only the
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Speaker 1: seventh in descent from them that dwelt in Eden, He
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Speaker 1: who for three centuries on earth walked with his God,
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Speaker 1: was permitted to behold form Afar the coming of the Deliverer. Behold,
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Speaker 1: he declared, the Lord cometh, with ten thousands of his
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Speaker 1: saints to execute judgment upon all. The patriarch job in
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Speaker 1: the night of his affliction, exclaimed with unshaken trust, I
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Speaker 1: know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand
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Speaker 1: at the latter day upon the earth. In my flesh
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Speaker 1: shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself,
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Speaker 1: and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. The coming
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Speaker 1: of Christ to usher in the reign of righteousness has
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Speaker 1: inspired the most sublime and impassioned utterances of the sacred writers.
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Speaker 1: The poets and prophets of the Bible have dwelt upon
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Speaker 1: it in words glowing with celestial fire. The psalmst song
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Speaker 1: of the Power and Majesty of Israel's King out of Zion,
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Speaker 1: the perfection of beauty God hath shined. Our God shall
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Speaker 1: come and shall not keep silence. He shall call to
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Speaker 1: the heavens from above and to the earth, that he
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Speaker 1: may judge his people. Let the heavens rejoice, and let
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Speaker 1: the earth be glad before the Lord, for he cometh.
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Speaker 1: For he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge
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Speaker 1: the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
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Speaker 1: Said the prophet Isaiah. Awake and sing ye that dwell
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Speaker 1: on dust, for thy jew is as the dew of herbs.
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Speaker 1: And the earth shall cast out the dead. Thy dead
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Speaker 1: men shall live together with my dead body. Shall they arise.
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Speaker 1: He will swallow up death in victory. And the Lord
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Speaker 1: God will wipe away tears from off all faces. And
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Speaker 1: the rebuke of his people shall he take away from
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Speaker 1: off all the earth. For the Lord hath spoken it,
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Speaker 1: and it shall be said in that day. Lo, this
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Speaker 1: is our God. We have waited for him, and he
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Speaker 1: will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited
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Speaker 1: for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
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Speaker 1: And Habacchock wrapt in holy vision, beheld his appearing God
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Speaker 1: came from Tiamen, and the Holy One from Mount Perrin.
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Speaker 1: His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full
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Speaker 1: of his praise, and his brightness was as the light.
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Speaker 1: He stood and measured the earth. He beheld and drove
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Speaker 1: asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains are scattered. The
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Speaker 1: perpetual hills did bow. His ways are everlasting. Thou didst
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Speaker 1: ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation. The
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Speaker 1: mountains saw thee and they trembled. The deep uttered his
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Speaker 1: voice and lifted up his hands on high. The sun
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Speaker 1: and moon stood still in their habitation. At the light
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Speaker 1: of Thine arrows they went, And at the shining of
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Speaker 1: thy glittering spear, Thou wentest forth for the salvation of
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Speaker 1: thy people, even for salvation with Thine anointed. When the
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Speaker 1: Savior was about to be separated from his disciples, he
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Speaker 1: comforted them in their sorrow with the assurance that he
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Speaker 1: would come again. Let not your heart be troubled. In
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Speaker 1: my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare
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Speaker 1: a place for you. And if I go and prepare
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Speaker 1: a place for you, I will come again and receive
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Speaker 1: you unto myself. The Son of Man shall come in
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Speaker 1: his glory, and all the Holy angels with him. Then
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Speaker 1: shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and
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Speaker 1: before him shall be gathered all nations. The angels who
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Speaker 1: lingered upon Oliver after Christ's ascension repeated to the disciples
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Speaker 1: the promise of his return. This same Jesus, which is
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Speaker 1: taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
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Speaker 1: like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
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Speaker 1: And the apostle Paul, speaking by the spirit of inspiration,
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Speaker 1: testified the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
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Speaker 1: with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
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Speaker 1: of God, says the Prophet of Patmas. Behold, he cometh
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Speaker 1: with clouds, and every eye shall see him about his
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Speaker 1: coming CAUs to the glories of that restitution of all
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Speaker 1: things which God has spoken by the mouth of all
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Speaker 1: his holy prophets since the world began. Then the long
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Speaker 1: continued rule of evil shall be broken. The kingdoms of
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Speaker 1: this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and
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Speaker 1: of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
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Speaker 1: The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
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Speaker 1: flesh shall see it together. The Lord God will cause
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Speaker 1: righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
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Speaker 1: He shall be for a crown of glory and for
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Speaker 1: a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people.
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Speaker 1: It is then that the peaceful and long desired kingdom
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Speaker 1: of the Messiah shall be established under the whole heaven.
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Speaker 1: The Lord shall comfort Zion. He will comfort all her
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Speaker 1: waste places, and he will make her wilderness thi like Eden,
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Speaker 1: and her desert like the garden of the Lord. The
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Speaker 1: glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the Excellency
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Speaker 1: of Carmel and Charon, Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken,
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Speaker 1: neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate. But
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Speaker 1: thou shalt be called My Delight, and thy land Beulah.
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Speaker 1: As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy
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Speaker 1: God rejoice over thee. The coming of the Lord has
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Speaker 1: been in all ages the hope of his true followers.
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Speaker 1: The Saviour's parting promise upon alive that he would come
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Speaker 1: again again lighted up the future for his disciples, filling
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Speaker 1: their hearts with joy and hope that sorrow could not quench,
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Speaker 1: nor trials dim amid suffering and persecution. The appearing of
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Speaker 1: the Great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ was the
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Speaker 1: blessed hope. When the Thessalonian Christians were filled with grief
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Speaker 1: as they buried their loved ones who had hoped to
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Speaker 1: live to witness the coming of the Lord, Paul, their
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Speaker 1: teacher pointed them to the resurrection to take place at
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Speaker 1: the Saviour's advent. Then the dead in Christ should rise
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Speaker 1: and together with the living, be caught up to meet
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Speaker 1: the Lord in the air. And so he said, shall
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Speaker 1: we ever be with the Lord? Wherefore comfort one another
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Speaker 1: with these words On rocky Patmas, the beloved Disciple hears
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Speaker 1: the promise, surely I come quickly, and his longing response
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Speaker 1: voices the prayer of the Church in all her pilgrimage.
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Speaker 1: Even so, come, Lord Jesus from the Dungeon mistake, the
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Speaker 1: scaffold where saints and martyrs witnessed for the truth comes
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Speaker 1: down the centuries, the utterance of their faith and hope,
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Speaker 1: being assured of His personal resurrection and consequently of their
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Speaker 1: own at his coming for this cause, says one of
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Speaker 1: these Christians. They despised death and were found to be
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Speaker 1: above it. They were willing to go down to the
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Speaker 1: grave that they might rise free. They looked for the
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Speaker 1: Lord to come from heaven in the clouds with the
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Speaker 1: glory of his Father, bringing to the just the times
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Speaker 1: of the kingdom. The Waldenseys cherished the same faith. Wickliffe
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Speaker 1: looked forward to the Redeemers, appearing as the Hope of
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Speaker 1: the Church. Luther declared, I persuade myself verily that the
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Speaker 1: day of judgment will not be absent full three hundred years.
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Speaker 1: God will not cannot suffer this wicked world much longer.
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Speaker 1: The great day is drawing near, in which the kingdom
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Speaker 1: of abominations shall be overthrown. This aged world is not
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Speaker 1: far from its end, said Melanchthon. Calvin bids Christians not
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Speaker 1: to hesitate ardently, desiring the day of Christ's coming as
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Speaker 1: a all events most auspicious, and declares that the whole
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Speaker 1: family of the faithful will keep in view that day.
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Speaker 1: We must hunger after Christ, we must seek contemplate. He says,
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Speaker 1: till the dawning of that great day, when our Lord
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Speaker 1: will fully manifest the glory of his kingdom. Has not
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Speaker 1: our Lord Jesus carried up our flesh into heaven, said Knox,
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Speaker 1: the Scotch reformer, And shall he not return? We know
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Speaker 1: that he shall return, and that with expedition. Ridley and Latimer,
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Speaker 1: who laid down their lives for the truth, looked in
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Speaker 1: faith for the Lord's coming. Ridley wrote, the world without doubt.
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Speaker 1: This I do believe, and therefore I say it draws
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Speaker 1: to an end. Let Us, with John, the Servant of God,
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Speaker 1: cry in our hearts unto our Savior Christ. Come, Lord Jesus,
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Speaker 1: Come the thoughts of the coming of the Lord, said
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Speaker 1: Baxter are most sweet and joyful to me. It is
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Speaker 1: the work of faith and the character of his saints
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Speaker 1: to love his appearing and to look for that blessed hope.
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Speaker 1: If death be the last enemy to be destroyed the resurrection,
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Speaker 1: we may learn how earnestly believers should long and pray
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Speaker 1: for the second coming of Christ. When this full and
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Speaker 1: final conquest shall be made. This is the day that
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Speaker 1: all believers should long and hope and wait for, as
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Speaker 1: being the accomplishment of all the work of their redemption
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Speaker 1: and all the desires and endeavors of their souls. Hasten,
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Speaker 1: o Lord, this blessed day. Such was the hope of
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Speaker 1: the Apostolic Church, of the Church in the Wilderness, and
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Speaker 1: of the Reformers. Prophecy not only foretells the manner and
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Speaker 1: object of Christ's coming, but presents tokens by which men
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Speaker 1: are to know when it is near, said Jesus, there
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Speaker 1: shall be signs in the sun and in the moon,
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Speaker 1: and in the stars. The sun shall be darkened, and
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Speaker 1: the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
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Speaker 1: of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in
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Speaker 1: heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the
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Speaker 1: Son of man coming in the clouds with great power
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Speaker 1: and glory. The revelator thus describes the first of the
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Speaker 1: sign to precede the Second Advent. There was a great earthquake,
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Speaker 1: and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and
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Speaker 1: the moon became as blood. These signs were witnessed before
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Speaker 1: the opening of the nineteenth century. In fulfillment of this prophecy,
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Speaker 1: there occurred in the year seventeen fifty five the most
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Speaker 1: terrible earthquake that has ever been recorded. Though commonly known
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Speaker 1: as the Earthquake of Lisbon, it extended to the greater
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Speaker 1: part of Europe, Africa, and America. It was felt in Greenland,
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Speaker 1: in the West Indies, in the island of Madeira, in
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Speaker 1: Norway and Sweden, Great Britain and Ireland. It pervaded an
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Speaker 1: extent of not less than four million square miles. In Africa,
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Speaker 1: the shock was almost as severe as in Europe. A
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Speaker 1: great part of Algiers was destroyed, and a short distance
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Speaker 1: from Morocco, a village containing eight or ten thousand inhabitants
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Speaker 1: was swallowed up. A vast wave swept over the coast
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Speaker 1: of Spain and Africa, engulfing cities and causing great destruction.
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Speaker 1: It was in Spain and Portugal that the shock manifested
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Speaker 1: its extreme violence. At Cadiz, the inflowing wave was said
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Speaker 1: to be sixty feet high. Mountains, some of the largest
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Speaker 1: in Portugal, were impetuously shaken, as it were, from their
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Speaker 1: very foundations, and some of them opened at their summits,
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Speaker 1: which were split and rent in a wonderful manner, huge
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Speaker 1: masses of them being thrown down into the adjacent valleys.
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Speaker 1: Flames are related to have issued from these mountains. At Lisbon,
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Speaker 1: a sound of thunder was heard underground, and immediately afterward
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Speaker 1: a violent shock threw down the greater part of that city.
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Speaker 1: In the course of about six minutes, sixty thousand persons perished.
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Speaker 1: The sea first retired and laid the bar dry. It
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Speaker 1: then rolled in, rising fifty feet or more above its
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Speaker 1: ordinary level. Among other extraordinary events related to have occurred
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Speaker 1: at Lisbon during the catastrophe was the subsidence of a
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Speaker 1: new key, built entirely of marble at an immense expense.
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Speaker 1: A great concourse of people had collected there for safety
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Speaker 1: as a spot where they might be beyond the reach
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Speaker 1: of falling bruins. But suddenly the key sank down with
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Speaker 1: all the people on it, and not one of the
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Speaker 1: dead bodies ever floated to the surface. The shock of
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Speaker 1: the earthquake was instantly followed by the fall of every
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Speaker 1: church and convent, almost all the large public buildings, and
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Speaker 1: more than one fourth of the houses in about two
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Speaker 1: hours after the shock, fires broke out in different quarters
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Speaker 1: and raged with such violence for the space of nearly
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Speaker 1: three days that the city was completely desolated. The earthquake
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Speaker 1: happened on a holy day, when the churches and convents
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Speaker 1: were full of people, very few of whom escaped. The
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Speaker 1: terror of the people was beyond description. Nobody wept, It
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Speaker 1: was beyond tears. They ran hither and thither, delirious with
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Speaker 1: horror and astonishment, beating their faces and breasts, crying miserricordia.
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Speaker 1: The world's at an end. Mothers forgot their children and
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Speaker 1: ran about, loaded with crucifixed images. Unfortunately, many rend the
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Speaker 1: churches for protection. But in vain was the sacrament exposed.
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Speaker 1: In vain did the poor creatures embrace the altars. Images,
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Speaker 1: Priests and people were buried in one common ruin. It
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Speaker 1: has been estimated that ninety thousand persons lost their lives
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Speaker 1: on that fatal day. Twenty five years later appeared the
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Speaker 1: next sign mentioned in the prophecy, the darkening of the
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Speaker 1: sun and moon. What rendered this more striking was the
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Speaker 1: fact that the time of its fulfillment had been definitely
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Speaker 1: pointed out in the Saviour's conversation with his disciples upon Oliver,
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Speaker 1: after describing the long period of trial for the church,
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Speaker 1: the twelve hundred sixty years of papal persecution, concerning which
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Speaker 1: he had promised that the tribulation should be shortened, He
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Speaker 1: thus mentioned certain events to precede his coming, and fixed
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Speaker 1: the time when the first of these should be witnessed.
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Speaker 1: In those days after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened,
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Speaker 1: and the moon shall not give her light. The twelve
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Speaker 1: hundred sixty days or years terminated in seventeen ninety eight,
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Speaker 1: a quarter of a century earlier. Persecution had almost wholly
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Speaker 1: ceased following this persecution. According to the words of Christ,
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Speaker 1: the sun was to be darkened on the nineteenth of
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Speaker 1: May seventeen eighty. This prophecy was fulfilled almost, if not
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Speaker 1: altogether alone, as the most mysterious and as yet unexplained
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Speaker 1: phenomenon of its kind stands, the dark day of May nineteenth,
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Speaker 1: seventeen eighty a most unaccountable darkening of the whole visible
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Speaker 1: heavens and atmosphere in New England. An eye witness living
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Speaker 1: in Massachusetts describes the event as follows. In the morning,
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Speaker 1: the sun rose clear, but was soon overcast. The clouds
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Speaker 1: became lowery, and from them black and ominous. As they
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Speaker 1: soon appeared, lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and a little rain fell.
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Speaker 1: Toward nine o'clock, the clouds became thinner and assumed a
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Speaker 1: brassy or coppery appearance, and earth rocks, trees, buildings, water,
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Speaker 1: and persons were changed by this strange, unearthly light. A
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Speaker 1: few minutes later, a heavy black cloud spread over the
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Speaker 1: entire sky except a narrow rim at the horizon, and
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Speaker 1: it was as dark as it usually is at nine
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Speaker 1: o'clock on a summer evening. Fear, anxiety, and awe gradually
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Speaker 1: filled the minds of the people. Women stood at the
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Speaker 1: door looking out upon the dark landscape. Men returned from
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Speaker 1: their labor in the fields. The carpenter left his tools,
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Speaker 1: the blacksmith his forge, the tradesman his counter. Schools were
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Speaker 1: dismissed and tremblingly, the children fled homeward travelers put up
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Speaker 1: at the nearest farmhouse. What is coming, queried every lippenheart.
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Speaker 1: It seemed as if a hurricane was about to dash
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Speaker 1: across the land, or as if it was the day
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Speaker 1: of the consummation of all things. Candles were used, and
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Speaker 1: hearth fires shone as brightly as on a moonless evening
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Speaker 1: in autumn. Fowls retired to their roosts and went to sleep.
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Speaker 1: Cattle gathered at the pasture bars, and load frogs peeped,
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Speaker 1: birds sang their evening songs, and bats flew about. But
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Speaker 1: the human knew that night had not come. Doctor Nathaniel Whittaker,
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Speaker 1: pastor of the Tabernacle Church in Salem, held religious services
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Speaker 1: in the meeting house and preached a sermon in which
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Speaker 1: he maintained that the darkness was supernatural. Congregations came together
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Speaker 1: in many other places. The texts for the extemporaneous sermons
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Speaker 1: were invariably those that seemed to indicate that the darkness
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Speaker 1: was consonant with scriptural prophecy. The darkness was most dense
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Speaker 1: shortly after eleven o'clock in most parts of the country.
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Speaker 1: It was so great in the daytime that the people
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Speaker 1: could not tell the hour by either watch or clock,
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Speaker 1: nor dine, nor manage their domestic business without the light
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Speaker 1: of candles. The extent of this darkness was extraordinary. It
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Speaker 1: was observed as far east as Falmouth. To the westward,
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Speaker 1: it reached to the farthest part of Connecticut, and to
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Speaker 1: Albany to the southward. It was observed along the sea
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Speaker 1: coasts and to the north as far as the American
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Speaker 1: settlements extend. The intense darkness of the day was succeeded
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Speaker 1: an hour or two before evening by a partially clear sky,
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Speaker 1: and the sun appeared, though it was still obscured by
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Speaker 1: the black, heavy mist. After sundown, the clouds came again overhead,
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Speaker 1: and it grew dark very fast. Nor was the darkness
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Speaker 1: of the night less uncommon and terrifying than that of
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Speaker 1: the day. Notwithstanding there was almost a full moon. No
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Speaker 1: object was discernible, but by the help of some artificial light, which,
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Speaker 1: when seen from the neighboring houses and other places at
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Speaker 1: a distance, appeared through a kind of Egyptian darkness which
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Speaker 1: seemed almost impervious to the rays. Said an eye witness
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Speaker 1: of the scene. I could not help conceiving at the
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Speaker 1: time that if every luminous body in the universe had
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Speaker 1: been shrouded in impenetrable shades or struck out of existence.
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Speaker 1: The darkness could not have been more complete. Though at
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Speaker 1: nine o'clock that night the moon rose to the full,
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Speaker 1: it had not the least effect to dispel the deathlike shadows.
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Speaker 1: After midnight, the darkness disappeared, and the moon, when first visible,
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Speaker 1: had the appearance of blood. May nineteen, seventeen eighty stands
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Speaker 1: in history as the dark Day. Since the time of Moses,
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Speaker 1: no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration
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Speaker 1: has ever been recorded. The description of this event, as
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Speaker 1: given by eye witnesses is but an echo of the
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Speaker 1: words of the Lord recorded by the prophet Jewel twenty
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Speaker 1: five hundred years previous to their fulfillment. The sun shall
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Speaker 1: be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before
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Speaker 1: the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
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Speaker 1: Christ had bidden his people to watch for the signs
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Speaker 1: of his advent and rejoice, as they should behold the
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Speaker 1: tokens of their coming king. When these things begin to
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Speaker 1: come to pass, he said, then look up and lift
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Speaker 1: up your heads, for your redemption. Draweth nigh. He pointed
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Speaker 1: his followers to the budding trees of spring, and said,
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Speaker 1: when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of
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Speaker 1: your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
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Speaker 1: So likewise, ye, when ye see these things come to pass,
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Speaker 1: know ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
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Speaker 1: But as the spirit of humility and devotion in the
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Speaker 1: Church had given place to pride and formalism, love for
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Speaker 1: Christ and faith in his coming had grown cold. Absorbed
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Speaker 1: in worldliness and pleasure seeking, the professed people of God
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Speaker 1: were blinded to the Saviour's instructions concerning the signs of
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Speaker 1: his appearing. The doctrine of the Second Advent had been neglected,
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Speaker 1: the scriptures relating to it were obscured by misinterpretation, until
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Speaker 1: it was to a great extent ignored and forgotten. Especially
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Speaker 1: was this the case in the churches of America. The
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Speaker 1: freedom and comfort enjoyed by all classes of society, the
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Speaker 1: ambitious desire for wealth and luxury begetting an absorbing devotion
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Speaker 1: to money making. The eager rush for popularity and power,
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Speaker 1: which seemed to be within the reach of all, led
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Speaker 1: men to sen to their interests and hopes on the
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Speaker 1: things of this life, and to put far in the future,
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Speaker 1: that solemn day when the present order of things should
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Speaker 1: pass away. When the Savior pointed out to his followers
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Speaker 1: the signs of his return, he foretold the state of
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Speaker 1: backsliding that would exist just prior to his second advent.
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Speaker 1: There would be, as in the days of Noah, the
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Speaker 1: activity and stir of worldly business and pleasure seeking, buying, selling, planting, building,
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Speaker 1: marrying and giving in marriage, with forgetfulness of God and
20:30
Speaker 1: the future life. For those living at this time, Christ's
20:33
Speaker 1: admonition is take heed to yourselves, lest at any time
20:37
Speaker 1: your hearts be overcharged with servanting and drunkenness and cares
20:41
Speaker 1: of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
20:46
Speaker 1: Watch ye therefore, and pray always that ye may be
20:49
Speaker 1: accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come
20:51
Speaker 1: to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.
20:55
Speaker 1: The condition of the Church at this time is pointed
20:57
Speaker 1: out in the Saviour's words in the Revelation, Thou hast
21:01
Speaker 1: to name that thou livest and art dead. And to
21:04
Speaker 1: those who refuse to arouse from their careless security, the
21:07
Speaker 1: solemn morning is addressed, if therefore thou shalt not watch,
21:11
Speaker 1: I will come on thee as a thief, and thou
21:12
Speaker 1: shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
21:16
Speaker 1: It was needful that men should be awakened to their danger,
21:19
Speaker 1: that they should be roused to prepare for the solemn
21:22
Speaker 1: events connected with the close of probation. The Prophet of
21:25
Speaker 1: God declares, the day of the Lord is great and
21:29
Speaker 1: very terrible. And who can abide it? Who shall stand
21:32
Speaker 1: when he appeareth, Who is of purer eyes than to
21:35
Speaker 1: behold evil and cannot look on iniquity? To them that cry,
21:39
Speaker 1: my God, we know thee yet have transgressed his covenant
21:42
Speaker 1: and hastened after another God, hiding iniquity in their hearts
21:45
Speaker 1: and loving the paths of unrighteousness. To these, the day
21:49
Speaker 1: of the Lord is darkness, and not light, even very dark,
21:52
Speaker 1: and no brightness in it. It shall come to pass
21:55
Speaker 1: at that time, saith the Lord that I will search
21:58
Speaker 1: Jerusalem with candles and punish the men that are settled
22:00
Speaker 1: on their leaves that say in their heart the Lord
22:03
Speaker 1: will not do good, neither will he do evil. I
22:06
Speaker 1: will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked
22:09
Speaker 1: for their iniquity. And I will cause the arrogancy of
22:12
Speaker 1: the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness
22:14
Speaker 1: of the terrible. Neither their silver nor their gold shall
22:18
Speaker 1: be able to deliver them. Their goods shall become a booty,
22:21
Speaker 1: and their houses a desolation. The prophet Jeremiah, looking forward
22:26
Speaker 1: to this fearful time, exclaimed, I am pained at my
22:29
Speaker 1: very heart. I cannot hold my peace because thou hast
22:32
Speaker 1: heard O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the
22:35
Speaker 1: alarm of war, destruction upon destruction is cried. That day
22:40
Speaker 1: is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress,
22:43
Speaker 1: a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness
22:46
Speaker 1: and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a
22:50
Speaker 1: day of the trumpet and alarm. Behold the day of
22:53
Speaker 1: the Lord cometh to lay the land desolate, and he
22:56
Speaker 1: shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. In view
23:00
Speaker 1: of that great day, the Word of God, in the
23:03
Speaker 1: most solemn and impressive language, calls upon his people to
23:06
Speaker 1: arouse from their spiritual lethargy, and to seek His face
23:10
Speaker 1: with repentance and humiliation. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion,
23:14
Speaker 1: and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all
23:17
Speaker 1: the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of
23:20
Speaker 1: the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. Sanctify
23:24
Speaker 1: a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the people, Sanctify
23:28
Speaker 1: the congregation. Assemble the elders, gather the children. Let the
23:32
Speaker 1: bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out
23:35
Speaker 1: of her closet. Let the priests the ministers of the
23:39
Speaker 1: Lord weep between the porch and the altar. Turn ye
23:43
Speaker 1: even to me with all your heart, and with fasting,
23:45
Speaker 1: and with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your heart,
23:48
Speaker 1: and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God.
23:51
Speaker 1: For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and
23:54
Speaker 1: of great kindness. To prepare a people to stand in
23:58
Speaker 1: the day of God, a great work of reform was
24:01
Speaker 1: to be accomplished. God saw that many of his professed
24:05
Speaker 1: people were not building for eternity, and in his mercy,
24:08
Speaker 1: he was about to send a message of warning to
24:10
Speaker 1: arouse them from their stupor and lead them to make
24:13
Speaker 1: ready for the coming of the Lord. This warning is
24:16
Speaker 1: brought to view in Revelation fourteen. Here is a threefold
24:20
Speaker 1: message represented as proclaimed by heavenly beings, and immediately followed
24:24
Speaker 1: by the coming of the Son of Man to reap
24:26
Speaker 1: the harvest of the earth. The first of these warnings
24:30
Speaker 1: announces the approaching judgment. The prophet beheld an angel flying
24:34
Speaker 1: in the midst of heaven, having the Everlasting Gospel to
24:38
Speaker 1: preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
24:40
Speaker 1: every nation enkindred and tongue and people, saying with a
24:44
Speaker 1: loud voice, fear God and give glory to Him, for
24:47
Speaker 1: the hour of his judgment is come. And worship Him
24:50
Speaker 1: that made heaven and earth, and the sea and the
24:53
Speaker 1: fountains of waters. This message is declared to be a
24:57
Speaker 1: part of the Everlasting Gospel. The work of preaching the
25:01
Speaker 1: Gospel has not been committed to angels, but has been
25:04
Speaker 1: entrusted to men. Holy angels have been employed in directing
25:08
Speaker 1: this work. They have in charge the great movements for
25:11
Speaker 1: the salvation of men. But the actual proclamation of the
25:15
Speaker 1: Gospel is performed by the servants of Christ upon the earth.
25:19
Speaker 1: Faithful men who were obedient to the promptings of God's
25:22
Speaker 1: Spirit and the teachings of his Word were to proclaim
25:25
Speaker 1: this warning to the world. They were those who had
25:28
Speaker 1: taken heed to the sure word of prophecy the light
25:31
Speaker 1: that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn
25:34
Speaker 1: and the day star arise. They had been seeking the
25:38
Speaker 1: knowledge of God more than all his treasures, counting it
25:41
Speaker 1: better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof
25:44
Speaker 1: than fine gold. And the Lord revealed to them the
25:47
Speaker 1: great things of the kingdom. The secret of the Lord
25:51
Speaker 1: is with them that fear him, and he will show
25:53
Speaker 1: them his covenant. Yet was not the scholarly theologians who
25:57
Speaker 1: had an understanding of this truth and engaged in its proclamation.
26:02
Speaker 1: Had these been faithful watchmen, diligently and prayerfully searching the scriptures,
26:06
Speaker 1: they would have known the time of night, the prophecies
26:10
Speaker 1: would have opened to them the events about to take place.
26:13
Speaker 1: But they did not occupy this position, and the message
26:16
Speaker 1: was given by humblermen. Said Jesus, walk while ye have
26:20
Speaker 1: the light, lest darkness come upon you. Those who turn
26:24
Speaker 1: away from the light which God has given, or who
26:27
Speaker 1: neglect to seek it when it is within their reach,
26:29
Speaker 1: are left in darkness. But the Savior declares, he that
26:33
Speaker 1: followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
26:36
Speaker 1: the light of life. Whoever is with singleness of purpose
26:40
Speaker 1: seeking to do God's will earnestly, heeding the light already given,
26:44
Speaker 1: will receive greater light. To that soul, some star of
26:48
Speaker 1: heavenly radiance will be sent to guide him into all truth.
26:52
Speaker 1: At the time of Christ's First Advent, the priests and
26:55
Speaker 1: scribes of the Holy City, to whom are entrusted the
26:58
Speaker 1: oracles of God, might have deserved the signs of the
27:00
Speaker 1: times and proclaimed the coming of the Promised One. The
27:04
Speaker 1: prophecy of Micah designated his birthplace Daniel specified the time
27:08
Speaker 1: of his advent. God committed these prophecies to the Jewish leaders.
27:13
Speaker 1: They were without excuse if they did not know and
27:15
Speaker 1: declare to the people that the Messiah's coming was at hand.
27:19
Speaker 1: Their ignorance was the result of sinful neglect. The Jews
27:23
Speaker 1: were building monuments the slain prophets of God, while by
27:27
Speaker 1: their deference to the great men of Earth, they were
27:29
Speaker 1: paying homage to the servants of Satan. Absorbed in their
27:33
Speaker 1: ambitious strife for place and power among men, they lost
27:37
Speaker 1: sight of the divine honors proffered them by the King
27:39
Speaker 1: of Heaven. With profound and reverent interest, the elders of
27:44
Speaker 1: Israel should have been studying the place, the time, the
27:46
Speaker 1: circumstances of the greatest event in the world's history, the
27:50
Speaker 1: coming of the Son of God to accomplish the redemption
27:53
Speaker 1: of man. All the people should have been watching and
27:56
Speaker 1: waiting that they might be among the first to welcome
27:58
Speaker 1: the world's redeemer. But lo at Bethlehem. Two weary travelers
28:03
Speaker 1: from the hills of Nazareth traversed the whole length of
28:06
Speaker 1: the narrow street to the eastern extremity of the town,
28:09
Speaker 1: vainly seeking a place of rest and shelter for the night.
28:13
Speaker 1: No doors are open to receive them. In a wretched
28:17
Speaker 1: hovel prepared for cattle, they at last find refuge, and
28:20
Speaker 1: there the Savior of the world is born. Heavenly angels
28:24
Speaker 1: had seen the glory which the Son of God shared
28:26
Speaker 1: with the Father before the world was and they had
28:29
Speaker 1: looked forward with intense interest to his appearing on earth
28:32
Speaker 1: as an event fraught with the greatest joy to all people.
28:36
Speaker 1: Angels were appointed to carry the glad tidings to those
28:39
Speaker 1: who were prepared to receive it and who would joyfully
28:42
Speaker 1: make it known to the inhabitants of the earth. Christ
28:45
Speaker 1: had stooped to take upon himself man's nature. He was
28:49
Speaker 1: to bear an infinite weight of woe, as he should
28:51
Speaker 1: make his soul an offering for sin. Yet angels desired that,
28:55
Speaker 1: even in his humiliation, the Son of the Highest might
28:58
Speaker 1: appear before men with a dignity and glows befitting his character.
29:02
Speaker 1: Would the great men of earth assemble at Israel's capital
29:05
Speaker 1: to greet his coming? Would legions of angels present him
29:09
Speaker 1: to the expectant company. An angel visits the earth to
29:13
Speaker 1: see who are prepared to welcome Jesus, But he can
29:17
Speaker 1: deserve no tokens of expectancy. He hears no voice of
29:20
Speaker 1: praise and triumph that the period of Messiah's coming is
29:23
Speaker 1: at hand. The angel hovers for a time over the
29:27
Speaker 1: Chosen City and the temple, where the divine presence has
29:29
Speaker 1: been manifested for ages. But even here is the same indifference.
29:34
Speaker 1: The priests and their pomp and pride are offering polluted
29:37
Speaker 1: sacrifices in the temple. The pharisees are with loud voices
29:41
Speaker 1: addressing the people or making boastful prayers at the corners
29:45
Speaker 1: of the streets, in the palaces of kings, in the
29:49
Speaker 1: assemblies of philosophers, in the schools of the rabbis. All
29:53
Speaker 1: are alike, unmindful of the wondrous fact which has filled
29:56
Speaker 1: all heaven with joy and praise, that the Redeemer of
29:59
Speaker 1: men is about to upon the earth. There is no
30:02
Speaker 1: evidence that Christ is expected, and no preparation for the
30:05
Speaker 1: Prince of life. In amazement, the celestial messenger is about
30:09
Speaker 1: to return to heaven with the shameful tidings when he
30:12
Speaker 1: discovers a group of shepherds who are watching their flocks
30:15
Speaker 1: by night, and as they gaze into the starry heavens,
30:18
Speaker 1: are contemplating the prophecy of a messiah to come to
30:21
Speaker 1: earth and longing for the advent of the world's redeemer.
30:25
Speaker 1: Here is a company that is prepared to receive the
30:27
Speaker 1: heavenly message, and suddenly the Angel of the Lord appears,
30:31
Speaker 1: declaring the good tidings of great joy. Celestial glory floods
30:36
Speaker 1: all the plain. An innumerable company of angels is revealed,
30:39
Speaker 1: and as if the joy were too great for one
30:41
Speaker 1: messenger to bring from heaven, a multitude of voices break
30:45
Speaker 1: forth in the anthem which all the nations of the
30:47
Speaker 1: saved shall one day sing glory to God in the
30:50
Speaker 1: highest and on earth peace good will toward men. Oh,
30:55
Speaker 1: what a lesson is this wonderful story of Bethlehem. How
30:58
Speaker 1: it rebukes our unbelief, our pride and self sufficiency. How
31:03
Speaker 1: it warns us to beware, lest by our criminal indifference
31:06
Speaker 1: we also failed to discern the signs of the times,
31:09
Speaker 1: and therefore know not the day of our visitation. It
31:13
Speaker 1: was not alone upon the hills of Judea, not among
31:16
Speaker 1: the lowly shepherds, only that the angels found the watchers
31:18
Speaker 1: for Messiah's coming. In the land of the Heathen, also
31:22
Speaker 1: were those that looked for him. They were wise men,
31:25
Speaker 1: rich and noble, The philosophers of the East, students of nature,
31:30
Speaker 1: the magi had seen God in his handiwork from the
31:33
Speaker 1: Hebrew scriptures. They had learned of the star to arise
31:37
Speaker 1: out of Jacob, and with eager desire they awaited his coming,
31:41
Speaker 1: who should be not only the consolation of Israel, but
31:43
Speaker 1: alight to lighten the gentiles and for salvation unto the
31:47
Speaker 1: ends of the earth. They were seekers for light, and
31:51
Speaker 1: light from the throne of God illumined the path for
31:53
Speaker 1: their feet. While the priests and rabbis of Jerusalem, the
31:57
Speaker 1: appointed guardians and expounders of the truth shrouded in darkness.
32:01
Speaker 1: The heaven sent star guided these gentile strangers to the
32:04
Speaker 1: birthplace of the new born King. It is unto them
32:08
Speaker 1: that look for him, that Christ is to appear the
32:10
Speaker 1: second time without sin, unto salvation. Like the tidings of
32:15
Speaker 1: the Saviour's birth, the message of the Second Advent was
32:18
Speaker 1: not committed to the religious leaders of the people. They
32:22
Speaker 1: had failed to preserve their connection with God and had
32:25
Speaker 1: refused light from heaven. Therefore they were not of the
32:28
Speaker 1: number described by the apostle Paul. But ye, brethren, are
32:32
Speaker 1: not in darkness that that day should overtake you as
32:34
Speaker 1: a thief. Ye are all the children of light and
32:37
Speaker 1: the children of the day. We are not of the
32:39
Speaker 1: night nor of darkness. The watchmen upon the walls of
32:43
Speaker 1: Zion should have been the first to catch the tidings
32:46
Speaker 1: of the Saviour's advent, the first to lift their voices
32:49
Speaker 1: to proclaim him near, the first to warn the people
32:52
Speaker 1: to prepare for his coming. But they were at ease,
32:55
Speaker 1: dreaming of peace and safety, while the people were asleep
32:58
Speaker 1: in their sins. Jesus saw his church like the barren
33:02
Speaker 1: fig tree, covered with pretentious leaves, yet destitute of precious fruit.
33:07
Speaker 1: There was a boastful observance of the forms of religion,
33:10
Speaker 1: while the spirit of true humility, penitence, and faith, which
33:13
Speaker 1: alone could render the service acceptable to God, was lacking.
33:18
Speaker 1: Instead of the graces of the spirit, there were manifested pride, formalism, vainglory, selfishness, oppression.
33:26
Speaker 1: A backsliding church closed their eyes to the signs of
33:29
Speaker 1: the times. God did not forsake them or suffer his
33:33
Speaker 1: faithfulness to fail, but they departed from Him and separated
33:37
Speaker 1: themselves from His love. As they refused to comply with
33:40
Speaker 1: the conditions, his promises were not fulfilled to them. Such
33:45
Speaker 1: is the sure result of neglect to appreciate and improve
33:48
Speaker 1: the light and privileges which God bestows. Unless the church
33:52
Speaker 1: will follow on in his opening providence, accepting every ray
33:56
Speaker 1: of light, performing every duty which may be revealed, religion
34:00
Speaker 1: will inevitably degenerate into the observance of forms, and the
34:04
Speaker 1: spirit of vital godliness will disappear. This truth has been
34:08
Speaker 1: repeatedly illustrated in the history of the Church. God requires
34:12
Speaker 1: of his people works of faith and obedience corresponding to
34:16
Speaker 1: the blessings and privileges bestowed. Obedience requires a sacrifice and
34:21
Speaker 1: involves a cross. And this is why so many of
34:23
Speaker 1: the professed followers of Christ refuse to receive the light
34:26
Speaker 1: from heaven, And like the Jews of old, knew not
34:29
Speaker 1: the time of their visitation, because of their pride and unbelief.
34:34
Speaker 1: The Lord passed them by and revealed his truth to
34:36
Speaker 1: those who, like the Shepherds of Bethlehem and the Eastern Magi,
34:40
Speaker 1: had given heed to all the light they had received.
34:45
Speaker 1: End of Chapter seventeen.